Studying and teaching smarter.

Happy Birthday, PBS!

On Sunday, November 3, PBS turned forty-four years old. Wow. That’s a lot of numbers. I’d have to count with this vintage piece from Sesame Street a bunch of times to count THAT high!

PBS’s mission, from the beginning, has been to “inform and inspire the diversity reflected in the American audience.” Astonishingly, even with the plethora of choices in broadcasting today, 90% of households watch PBS annually.

There are many reasons to continue to love and support your local PBS station. Its news programming has “been named the most trustworthy institution among nationally known organizations, for ten consecutive years.”

How about Masterpiece Theater, which just celebrated its fortieth birthday and is enjoying wild success with its hit show Downton Abbey? Here’s a preview of Season 4, which premieres on December 17, 2013…

Or perhaps your taste runs a bit more to the Monster Piece Theatre side? Here we have Grover interpreting the classic Upstairs, Downstairs:

One of the best things about PBS has always been its educational programming for children. Seventy-seven percent of children ages 2-11 watch PBS Kids each year. Here are some other interesting facts about that programming:

So send your local station a birthday card… and while you’re at it, become a member. Members are still the largest source of support and they need you to keep quality, commercial – free programming available, for your kids, and for you.